Almost 40 persons have been executed in Nebraska, including 3 since 1973, when the state passed a revised death penalty law after the 1972 moratorium imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court because of its Furman v. Georgia decision. In 2009, Nebraska switched its method of execution from electrocution to lethal injection after the Nebraska Supreme Court declared the former cruel and unusual punishment in 2008, after 95 years of use. Prior to 1913, hanging was the method of execution. Nebraska was the last state to adopt a lethal injection protocol for executions.
There has been a recent history of abolition efforts in the state. In 1979 the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature passed a bill abolishing the death penalty, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Charley Thone. Also, in every session of the legislature since 1981, senators have introduced a bill to abolish the death penalty. While there have been years when the abolition bill has advanced out of committee, and even one year when it initially had 25 sponsors (out of 49 senators), repeal efforts have not yet succeeded. In 1999 the Nebraska Legislature was the first state to pass a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty during a study on the fairness of its application. Although Governor Mike Johanns vetoed the moratorium bill, the legislature unanimously overrode the Governor’s veto of the appropriations bill that funded the study.
In 2007, the Nebraska legislature came within one vote of passing the repeal bill.